Listener’s Library, January 1996
Last Updated on October 12, 2005 by Ralph Brandi
What’s that, you say you are just a listener and haven’t become a Ham yet? Well, while we all wait for you to get your license (and you should), you can still enjoy building any of the several receiver designs from the past. Or you can read Dave’s tips on restoring classic receivers from the 40s and 50s. This book will turn the most dedicated modern technology person into an “old timer” over night.
SOLID STATE QRP PROJECTS
by Edward M. Noll W3FQJ
127 Pages
$12.95
MFJ Enterprises, Inc.
P.O. Box 494
Mississippi State, MS 39762
1-800-647-1800
MFJ deserves special recognition in the radio hobby for bringing so many of Ed Noll’s books back into print. I came to understand many things about the radio hobby through Ed’s excellent instruction. Of all the radio books in my collection, one of my most favorites remains Noll’s Solid State QRP Projects. My 1970 Howard W. Sams edition is dog earred and well worn from over twenty years of reference. Now this classic work on the radio hobby is back in print and well worth reading all over again. The text appears in its original form and because of this, some of the references to component numbers and suppliers are a bit dated. A new forward and a list of current suppliers brings this book into the 1990’s without disrupting the original text. By doing this, the current reader can see how folks used to play QRP with Motorola “HEP” series semiconductors and those teeny modules sold by Ten-Tec and International Crystal Manufacturing.
The book contains dozens of inexpensive circuits that just beg to be built and put on the air. In all, Ed includes over 50 transmitter, accessory and antenna projects that will keep any dedicated QRPer happy for years. Noll’s real forte is in the area of antennas. I have reviewed several of Ed’s antennas books in past issues of The NASWA Journal. The antenna ideas in this book remain standards that are truly timeless. Whenever I have an excuse to hang yet another dipole somewhere, I always go back to Ed’s book for the facts and figures to get the job done.
This book doesn’t take you back into the 20s like Dave Ingrams’s does. But if you want to see how we got it done in the 70s, this is a book you need to add to your collection. Who would have thought that the technology of the 70’s would be as “classic” some of that stuff from the early days of radio.
THE WORLDWIDE AERONAUTICAL COMMUNICATIONS FREQUENCY DIRECTORY
Second Edition
by Robert E. Evans
260 Pages
$19.95
Universal Radio, Inc.
6830 Americana Pkwy.
Reynoldsburg, Ohio 43068
ISBN 1-882123-33-6
As you tune around the shortwave bands, you are no doubt aware of the many other signals that can be heard. In amongst all those signals you will find the day to day operations of long distance aircraft. Bob’s latest edition of his book includes complete world, regional and domestic air route information for 137 countries and company operations for 116 world airlines. You will also find listings for VOLMET broadcasts from 70 cities around the world as well as the operations frequencies of 30 of the world’s military air forces. If you are into monitoring digital signals, you will also find listings for the HF RTTY Aeronautical Fixed Telecommunications Network as well as information of the VHF ACARS system.
The book is fully cross-referenced for easy use. It also includes 12 full sized maps and several illustrations that aid use. The book also includes a glossary of terms and several appendices.
Next time conditions don’t favor hearing your favorite shortwave broadcasts, you may want to have Bob’s book on the shelf. There is a lot of interesting listening out there between the broadcasts.
Shortwave Sidelines
It’s hard to be part of our hobby these days without feeling the presence of The Internet. Many shortwave listening resources can be found on The Net along with support for most other aspects of the radio hobby. If you have been a bit reluctant to jump on “The Information Superhighway”, I think I have a book to help you join in the fun.
INTERNET 101 A COLLEGE STUDENTS GUIDE
by Alfred Glossbrenner
350 Pages
$19.95
Windcrest/Mcgraw-Hill
Blue Ridge Summit. PA 17294-0850
ISBN 0-07-024054
When you are first presented with an opportunity to enter the Internet, you can quickly be come confused. What the heck is an FTP? Who is Archie? Why is there a Gopher online? What is my URL? The basic fact is that what the press and the online services are selling to us today as “The Information Superhighway” is based on a system that was developed largely using a computer language known as UNIX and its TCP/IP protocols. Everything you see and do on the Internet has UNIX at its roots. All of those acronyms and nicknames that are tossed around are vestiges of the way business was done by the scientific, academic and military communities on the Net before the rest of us showed up to the party.
This particular book presents The Net in a most interesting manner. It gets you on to The Net by doing some funs things (such as determining the current stock in a soda machine at The Rochester Institute of Technology) and then take you on to more practical pursuits such as research and data tracking. This combination of pleasurable and practical pursuits will get you cruising around The Net like a pro in no time at all.